>> low and welcome to "the journal." our top stories at this hour, intense fighting continues near gaddafi's compound in tripoli. >> the german president criticizes the european central bank for buying up the debt of eurozone countries. >> russian authorities arrested men in connection with the man

who murdered anna politkovskaya five years ago. libyan rebels are moving to secure their gains in tripoli as their forces in the capital, under sniper attack and shelling by forces loyal to muammar gaddafi. the council has offered an award to anyone who delivers some of dead or alive. the rebels were able to ensure the safety of one very prominent group. >> four days they were tracked in the hotel fearing for their lives. now they are free and safe. the 40 foreign journalists were let go. sauce costs. says sen in parts of tripoli, the fight rages on.

snipers the road to the airport said. -- fighting in parts of tripoli goes on. the rebels are still confident and say most of the city is now under their control. >> where are the fighters of gaddafi? >> early on wednesday morning, the first sign that gaddafi was still alive. a message from a syria-based television channel. he said he had to withdraw from his compound for tactical reasons, he said he would fight on to victory or martyrdom. his regime has been reduced to rubble. his whereabouts are unknown. the council has put a bounty on gaddafi's head, the equivalent of 1 million euros to anyone who gives them up.

>> we have more from the tunisian border with libya. >> there are three locations where they are holding off and there is heavy fighting. the rebels control most of the city but one of the warring developments is in the last hours in more than one location, around the entrance to a city, snipers appeared. if a position a few people in specific places, they can terrorize this cityfor quite a long te. >> as we reassess loyalists fighting capacity, is there any idea how long that they can keep the counter attacks up? >> no, that is not clear.

if they go with some kind of guerrilla attack, that my last for quite a while. it would be easy for the rebels to flesh out some of the areas where they're holding territory because they kind of go into this scurrilous attack and it would be much more difficult. -- go into this guerrilla attack and it would be much more difficult. >> what do you think about this bounty? will it lead to his capture? >> there is speculation going on on where he is. there might be a trader in his ranks. >> can the rebels declared victory as long as gaddafi and his sons and these loyalists fighters are counterattacking? >> they cannot claim victory. they can claim that they have control because gaddafi is not in power. what the good of his supporters

is -- are able to show that they can sabotage the building up of the new libya. they cannot bring the old regime but they can sabotage. >> thank you for that update. france says it will continue their air operations over libya as part of their u.n. mandate to protect civilians. after meeting with the rebel leader and president -- in paris, president sarkozy said his support would continue as long as the transitional council needs it. they're the first to recognize the government and they have been a driving force to the air campaign. the fall is focusing renewed attention on the syrian leader and his crackdown on political dissent. security forces have carried out nationwide raids to arrest opponents. human-rights activists say that tanks were used in a number of

places. washington and eu governments are seeking to step up the pressure on syria. they have circulated a draft u.n. security council resolution that calls for tougher sanctions. an eu embargo imports expected to be adopted next week. could syria be the next libya? we will be back with more on that. criticism of the eurozone bailouts from a very high level. >> a bit of criticism from an unexpected source. the german president christian wulff has said the european central banks purchase of government bonds is legally questionable. he said the action violates european union treaties and damages the central bank's independence. christian wulff's position is largely ceremonial but he does not use the intervening policy

issues. now he is weighing in on the leadership of angela merkel. >> the german president may have no -- might have no political power but his words have such. christian wulff criticized the ec before paying billions to support highly indebted eurozone nations. >> i consider the bulk buying of individual state bonds by european central bank politically and legally questionable. >> the german president slammed the leaders for their handling of the debt crisis by taking on more debt. >> those who tried to clean up the effect of bad speculation and decades of bad mismanagement are just passing debts on to the next generation and burdening their future. >> chancellor angela merkel who is in -- receiving a prize, reacted by praising the euro.

>> this is the basis of our joint economic success and a symbol of the political unification of our continent. >> german lawmakers are set to vote and changes to the eurozone rescue fund in september. the chancellor will have to step up her efforts to win support for her economic policies. >> how unusual is it for a german president to enter a debate and issue this kind of blunt criticism of a vital institution? that is a question that we put to our political correspondent. >> well, the german president does not get tangled up in day- to-day politics but the problems with the euro is an ongoing saga that has begun to overshadow almost every aspect of government. the president made it a

political in the sense that he was dishing out criticism both to banks and politicians. he not only said that the ecb has overstepped its powers, he also said that politicians aren't issuing knee-jerk reactions to media stories and to the decisions of rating agencies. he also criticized the german government for taking on more debt. he said that governments must lead people. people in the public to not understand why banks and now will countries are being bailed out. in part, this is about calling for a restoration of confidence in the political process and that is the german president's role. >> greece's second bailout could be headed for a bit of trouble. the packages with 159 billion euros. before the deal can go ahead,

parliament and eurozone member states have to give their approval. some of them did not seem inclined to do so. >> the eurozone leaders approved the bailout for greece in july. finland had gone to the summit insisting they would contribute only if they had extra guarantees. helsinki will get a payment of cash to invest in low-risk securities. the move has drawn sharp criticism from other eurozone countries, and in germany, which will bear the lion's share of the bailout, many are questioning the handling of the crisis. there is criticism from within her government. austria and the netherlands now want dealers like those granted finland. -- 1 deals like those granted finland. angela merkel insist that greece is not have enough collateral to stock up for every lender. analysts are worried that if the debate spreads, this could bring

down the entire bailout package which still needs approval by parliament in the eurozone states. >> german business confidence has fallen to the lowest lovell and more than a year. the debt crisis weighed on the outlook for growth here in the biggest economy. the business climate index based on a survey of 7000 executives across the country dropped to 108.7 in august. the lowest reading since june of 2010. fears are growing that and other global slump will weaken demand for german exports. the debt crisis is also within the eurozone area. the index had little impact on shares in frankfurt as stocks there are locked in another day of gains. our correspondent has this summary of the session from frankfurt.

>> although the most important indicator came in as a disappointment. traders took it as a positive surprise and the index shows that germany is not heading towards the recessionary environment. this is heading towards a cooling down of the economy. that is already priced into those markets right now. on a daily basis, the dax could gain more than two and a half percent. especially export-oriented car makers had benefited from the change and mood. >> we can stay for a look at the closing numbers. the benchmark dax climbed by 2.7%. the euro stoxx 50 having a good day fishing up by 1.7%. in new york, the dow jones industrial average on a bit of a roller-coaster ride this

wednesday to lay up, down, and then up again. it finished up 1.3%. on currency markets, the euro trading at one u.s. dollar, 44 cents. the french government has announced new measures aimed at reining in deficits while allowing economic growth. this is expected to raise 12 billion euros in revenues by increasing taxes and reducing tax breaks. the measures are aimed at helping the country avoid a downgrade in the credit rating. the government has to reduce their budget deficit from their current level of 7% of gdp to below 3% by the year 2014 as required by eurozone rules. that is your business update. >> a major quake in south america, a powerful earthquake measuring 6.8 on the richter scale had stricken eastern peru. the epicenter was located north of the city of --

in the amazon rain forest. the trers were felt across the country. there have been no reports of any casualties. the former commander of croatia's ethnic serbs has pleaded not guilty at the united nations or tribes -- united nations war crimes tribunal. hodges was arrested in july after seven years on the run. the last remaining fugitives face war crimes and crimes against humanity. that includes the murder of civilians in the balkans conflict of the 1990's. north korea has said they're ready to impose a temporary freeze on the nuclear weapons program if international -- if international negotiations resume.

kim jong-il made the offer at a meeting with president medvedev in siberia. president medvedev like support for a russian pipeline to supply south korea via the north. authorities have arrested a retired police officer on suspicion of organizing the murder of the anti kremlin journalists, anna politkovskaya , in 2006. officers suspected of being paid to form a group to carry out the murder. >> he was a senior police investigator. he was a key witness. today, upload is believe that he arranged a killing. -- police believe that he arranged the killing. >> i believe that he organized terror in exchange for a reward.

this included the three brothers and other persons. >> investigators believe that he hired a contractor serial -- a contract killer. anna politkovskaya was gunned down in her apartment. >> their speculation that no proof. the more influential the person who ordered it is, the harder it will be to find him. >> they fear that the person who ordered her murder might never be found. >> the eastern seaboard of the u.s. is on alert as the hurricane barrels of from the caribbean. forecasters say that the storm is threatening areas including new york and parts of new england. the hurricane has been battered

in the bahamas. forecasters have upgraded it to a major category 3 storm which is clocking wind of 185 kph. could syria become the next libya? we will be looking at that in a minute.

>> could the fall of the get off the real shame encourage the efforts of the dissidents and syria to topple the president? is nato willing to help them do so? those of some of the questions being asked by the opposition right now. they're taking in the dramatic events going on at the mediterranean neighbor. >> this is a filmmaker and a

leading member of the syrian opposition. for more than decade, he has been fighting the assad regime. a wave of sense fleeing the violence that the turkish border. -- was already in turkey. he went to the border region taking the syrian entire region active this food and medical supplies. in the encampments, we met visitors from the syrian army. this young officer said he could not in good conscience should defenseless people. >> i fled when i was on leave in early june. when i got to my home town, there was a demonstration. people were demanding freedom and calling on the regime to go. >> they hope that anti regime

forces would organize in the no- man's land along the turkish border. then, the syrian army move right up to the border. now, the opposition activists and the regular army i each other across the fence. two months later, -- returns for another visit and spend four days with the opposition members here. >> i think that the syrian army, they don't want people -- they know that they are living in the border. every time you will hear shooting, explosions. >> the few who is still camped out near the border are mainly visitors from the syrian army. they want to fight the regime. this marks a new departure for the opposition,. now they refrain from military

means. the regime would have no pretext to attack. it began with a video message a few weeks ago. the former colonel called on government soldiers to desert and join him in his entourage with a young officer we met in june. the commander gave us an exclusive interview. >> the regime has become so arrogant that there is no other choice, they have to be removed by force. that is what we believe and we shall carry on until we have achieved our goals in the interest of the syrian people. >> desertion is a capital offense. these deserters to not hide their faces.

reporters say a number of syrian army units have joined the opposition and are now protecting people from attacks by government forces. the opposition is hoping desertions will snowball. cox -- >> i will look to my interest in things. >> the regime's secret service has been using all possible means to suppress the slightest hint of revolts. -- met a junior officer who is in the border area. his unit had been told to prevent an anti-government march. >> as they were getting closer, i went to my commanding officer

and said, that is a peaceful demonstration. the people swore they would not be armed. he answered, you are only saying that because you are from the same area. >> the security fors were ordered to shoot into the crowd. they killed 40 and wounded about 200. that is when -- is deserted and joined the opposition. >> i saw how they killed some of the wounded with their rifle butts. i tried to protect the demonstrators by shooting in the other direction, into the bushes to create a diversion. i just kept firing, so the others thought that there must be people hiding there. they started shooting in the same direction as well.

>> a few days after the interview, -- was seized by the secret service. there has been no news of him sense and -- fears that he might be dead. the entire regime activists in the border are not talking about their plans. >> they're like, the military, i don't know. i feel it was like something there that they are preparing. >> these troops loyal to president assad are still feeling confident. the rebel soldiers gathered at the border and would like to change that. they're still a few in number and are pitted against the large and well armed forces of the regime. >> our middle east analyst spoke to us earlier and he began describing just how much support assad has in syria.

>> he does enjoy considerable support when it comes to the hire -- to the higher echelon. they are a shiite sect consisting of 10% of the population. they have for the monopolist's power in syria. they will continue to support president assad and they have no reason to abandon their support for the president. do you see this serious topic in their own government? >> no, i see no chance to be toppled. we have to keep in mind that there is considerable support

for bashar all assain syria. there are also other religious leaders and the sunni merchant class. these people are not in love with this present with their fearful of what might happen should he be toppled. they don't want to see a repetition of what they have seen in iraq. >> why are western paris -- why western powers holdingack with syria when they did not with libya? >> this is the importance of syria. there are so many foreign powers involved. it would be very dangerous to intervene in this country militarily, there is no way to find a military solution to this conflict.

besides, the the the russians or the chinese are very happy about another nato success in our country after the one we have seen in libya. th don't want western influence to be expanded and they pay the price. >> thank you for joining us. u forget it. yourself, so don't fall.

u forget it. now he tells us. how far am i off the floor? about twelve inches. twelve whole inches?